Field of the Various Embodiments
The various embodiments relate generally to automotive systems and, more specifically, to techniques for optimizing vehicle headlights based on situational awareness.
Description of the Related Art
In general, low light conditions impair the ability of drivers to perceive the environment surrounding their vehicles. In particular, at night, the useful visual data that drivers receive via the windshields of vehicles is largely limited to illuminated objects. Such restricted “windshield views” dramatically increases the likelihood of collisions and accidents. To increase safety, vehicles are equipped with headlamps that produce “headlights”—beams of light that illuminate some of the environment in front of, and in the related front periphery of, vehicles, which effectively increases the windshield view. However, the ability of headlamps to illuminate those parts of the environment is limited. Consequently, drivers are oftentimes oblivious to objects that lie outside the area illuminated by the vehicles' headlamps. Accordingly, in an effort to reduce the likelihood of collisions and accidents attributable to undetected objects, many vehicles are equipped with additional features designed to mitigate the negative impact of low light conditions on driver perception and awareness.
In one approach, vehicles are equipped with infrared cameras. In operation, images from the infrared cameras are displayed via infotainment screens mounted inside the vehicles. While driving, a driver can glance from the windshield to the infotainment screen to supplement the visual data the driver receives via the windshield view. However, the windshield view and the infotainment screen are typically disconnected and glancing back-and-forth between the two takes the driver's eyes off the road and also may disorient the driver. Further, at night, glancing at the lighted infotainment screen may reduce the night vision of the driver, thereby decreasing the ability of the driver to detect objects that are partially illuminated in the windshield view.
In another approach, sensor data is projected onto windshields or delivered to the driver via a heads-up displays. Such sensor data may include navigation data, infrared camera data, etc. While projecting sensor data can increase the amount of environmental data that a driver receives without requiring the driver to disengage from the windshield view, the context of the sensor data is usually inconsistent with the windshield view. In particular, the images projected onto the windshield are typically two-dimensional, while the real-life images included in the windshield view are three-dimensional. Consequently, although the driver may see objects included in a projected image, the driver may not be able to deduce where such objects are located within the three-dimensional space surrounding the vehicle. Such confusion can prevent the driver from being able to effectively maneuver around obstacles that appear in the projected image but are located outside the windshield view.
In general, supplemental viewing techniques such as those described above, tend to increase the amount of data drivers receive without necessarily increasing the ability of drivers to comprehend critical environmental data. As a result, these types of supplemental viewing techniques may not effectively increase driver safety during low light conditions.
As the foregoing illustrates, more effective techniques for mitigating the impact of low light conditions on driver safety would be useful.